Press release number: IFAD 10/05

Rome, 15 February 2005 - The 28th session of the Governing Council of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD, will elect a President to lead the organization for the next four years. The election will take place on Wednesday, 16 February, as part of IFAD’s annual Governing Council meeting at the Palazzo dei Congressi in Rome.

Lennart Båge, IFAD’s current president has been nominated by the Kingdom of Sweden for a second term. He began his four-year term in April 2001. Prior to his appointment at IFAD, Båge served as the head of Sweden’s Department for International Development Cooperation. He also served as an ambassador and assistant under-secretary for Sweden’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Republic of Indonesia has nominated Jannes Hutagalung to be IFAD’s next president. Hutagalung is expert staff to the Minister of Finance for Debt Management, Department of Finance and is a former deputy minister for his country’s International Economic Cooperation.

The appointment of IFAD’s president is achieved only when one candidate obtains a two-thirds majority of the total number of votes allocated to IFAD’s member states. An IFAD president may serve a maximum of two four-year terms.

The Governing Council is IFAD’s highest decision-making authority, consisting of delegates from IFAD’s 163 member states. The Council’s annual meeting serves as a forum to decide on a variety of administrative, budget and policy matters concerning IFAD.

---

IFAD is a specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to eradicating rural poverty in developing countries. Seventy-five per cent of the world's poorest people – 900 million women, children and men – live in rural areas and depend on agriculture and related activities for their livelihoods. Through low-interest loans and grants, IFAD works with governments to develop and finance programmes and projects that enable rural poor people to overcome poverty themselves.

There are close to 200 ongoing IFAD-supported rural poverty eradication programmes and projects, totaling US$ 6.5 billion. IFAD has invested about US$ 3 billion in these initiatives. Co-financing has been provided by governments, beneficiaries, multilateral and bilateral donors and other partners. At full development, these programmes will help more than 100 million rural poor women and men to achieve better lives for themselves and their families. Since starting operations in 1978, IFAD has invested US$ 8.5 billion in 676 projects and programmes that have helped more than 250 million poor rural men and women achieve better lives for themselves and their families.